“It’s Hard to Turn Down”- Dale Earnhardt’s Disgruntled Grandson Dissects Racing Heartbreak Amidst Scarce Opportunities

Jeffrey Earnhardt was returning to the Truck Series after 13 years. Add to this the fact that it was MBM Motorsports’ first series start in a decade, it was a reasonably hopeful #67 team going into the race on Friday as much as the next team. The 33-year-old racer, who is yet to get to his breakthrough race, just endured what can only be called another lackluster finish in the recently concluded Truck Series race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

But to begin with, in the qualifying run, Earnhardt barely clawed his way through the ranks to enter the 36-car field to start at P31. Christian Eckes couldn’t make it to the qualifying run due to a crash while practicing the same day. Tyler Ankrum spun out and his teammate Daniel Dye’s throttle issue led to prematurely exiting the race altogether. Not the way he ideally would have passed the quali, but Earnhardt was grateful to be back to Truck Series racing.

In the final stage of the race, the no#67 Toyota Driver, Jeffrey Earnhardt was unfortunately caught in some heavy wreckage that forced a total of four cars to a halt for the rest of the night and relegated Earnhardt to a dismal P35 finish, four spots below he originally started. The incident unfolded on Lap 68 after a restart to open the final stage of the race when Thad Moffitt t-boned Tyler Ankrum. And caught as collateral damage was Keith McGee, who in turn hit Jeffrey Earnhardt’s No. 67, ending both their nights.

While all the drivers caught in the wreck were visibly upset, Jeffrey Earnhardt, whose best-career finish in the Truck Series was a P7 finish at the season opener Daytona International Speedway in 2011, in an interview with Frontstretch, didn’t just blame the contact for his unfortunate finish. Talking about how his team also missed the mark, the driver said, “Unfortunate. We didn’t have the best showing that we had hoped for here. We missed the setup a little bit, took away some of our practice.” 

However, given his absence from the racetrack on more occasions than he would’ve hoped for, Earnhardt was also appreciative of the chance.“Still thankful for the opportunity. The guys, you know, called me and asked if I wanted to do this race, and it’s hard to turn down the opportunity to sit in a race car, so very appreciative of every opportunity I get,” he exclaimed.

Earnhardt is currently going through testing times in his career as a NASCAR driver. He’s ranked at #45 in the NASCAR Infinity Series, 400 points short of the leader. Currently, on a part-time schedule, the racer hasn’t had much show of luck in his other showings over the years either. This race turned out to be a big blow for Earnhardt as he was fighting to make the most of his opportunities in the series. Perhaps realizing how he might not get back in a Truck anytime soon due to the dearth of a full-time seat, the driver also wished for his return, saying,

“Hopefully, we can do it again and do it a little bit better, but they, they work their bu**s off trying to make it the best.”

Having said that, Earnhardt wasn’t the only one. Several other drivers were also involved in the incident, and they echoed similar sentiments to that of Earnhardt.

Drivers recall their horrendous experience

Tyler Ankrum explained how he lost control. One could feel the frustration in the #18 driver’s voice. However, he also hoped to return into the groove of things in the upcoming races. “Racing hasn’t been too friendly lately considering how hot we started the season, so we’re going to try to get our mojo back,” he lamented.

According to Thad Moffitt, the incident was sudden. Moffitt explained how he got hit by another car, resulting in a sudden stop that deprived him of his breath. He further revealed that he had received some input from his spotter regarding the car that was moving, but it was its unpredictability that led to the incident.

On a similar note, Keith McGee also said, “I could see the accident happening. I tried to go to the bottom and avoid it, and instead got clipped.” McGee’s dejection about the crash was more so because of the hard work that his team did putting that car together. Hailing from a small team, Reaume Brothers Racing, the #22 driver talked about the lost opportunity, saying, “I just hate tearing up equipment, man. I know how hard these small teams work to put stuff on the track, and it’s never good when you bring one home tore up.”

Like most races in NASCAR, The North Carolina Education Lottery 200 too was a race of high hopes and huge setbacks. On top of that, the night also reminded drivers like Jeffrey Earnhardt and others of the unforgiving and unpredictable nature of motorsports.